Simon Brooks

Simon Brooks is a serial killer who murdered seven young black boys in Manhattan, five of which led to Andrew Dillard being wrongfully convicted.

History

Brooks was a mentally unstable religious fanatic who targeted his victims because he thought they were sinners. The first body was found on the banks of the Hudson River, with a note in the pocket saying "they must be destroyed". Because there was no sign of sexual assault and given the contents of the note, the police came to the conclusion that the murderer was a racist targeting African Americans. However, Brooks actually meant that sinners were the ones to be destroyed, not blacks. When four more bodies turned up, the police realized that a serial killer was on the loose.

After the discovery of the fifth body, a suspect, Andrew Dillard, was arrested. Dillard, a racist, drove a delivery truck for a bakery, which gave him access to the victims, who were preyed on as they hung out at grocery stores. An expert witness testified that his handwriting matched the notes. Dillard was convicted and given five consecutive life sentences. Diana Hawthorne, Jack McCoy's assistant and lover, also deliberately withheld exculpatory evidence and strongly suggested to the handwriting expert that he strengthen the fingerprint evidence in order to prevent further murders. Around that time, Brooks confessed his crimes to his mother. Rather than turn him in, she placed him on anti-psychotic medication and sent him to appointments at Bellevue. When she passed away, Brooks stopped taking his medication and attending his appointments.

Eventually, he murdered his sixth victim, leading Detectives Briscoe and Curtis to believe a copycat was on the loose. After Brooks killed his seventh and final victim, Briscoe and Curtis connected him to both victims, and brought him in for questioning. He quickly confessed to the murders. When asked if he got the idea from Dillard, Brooks said that Dillard had nothing to do with it: he had committed all of the murders. He is currently institutionalized.